


Take Our Guilt in the Tide

by LetMeEntertainYou



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Beach Episode, Depression, Gen, depressed!brian, lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 14:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20154877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetMeEntertainYou/pseuds/LetMeEntertainYou
Summary: Where Freddie was, the sand was warmer. When he planted his bottom down, he was greeted by a rush of warm, easing his goosebumps. The sun helped too, melting the ice on his joints, frozen by what seemed like months of disuse.





	Take Our Guilt in the Tide

There’s something about saltwater that seems cleansing. Purifying. 

Brian pulls his sweater around him tighter, his toes digging into the cold sand, a blast of salty air whipping his curls every which way. 

His eyes are closed, so he opens them, looking out at the horizon before him. Blue caressing blue. An endless sky unmarred by clouds and a calm ocean, scarred only by the white waves rolling through it. 

He walked closer to the shore, inhaling the sea foam that clotted the coast, listening to the giggle of the bubbles grouping together and popping as the water dragged itself back into the depths. In it’s wake was a clump of seaweed and a bleach white shell, perfectly round. 

Brian picked it up and examined it. Upon closer inspection, it had pink and orange veins running through it. Signs that this shell was once figured elegantly, painted with colors so beautiful that the ocean stole them away. It was now nothing but a pale circle, by chance making it’s way to land. But it was still here. Still existing. 

He pocketed it, returning his attention to the 3 men who forced him out here. 

Roger and John had their pant legs rolled up, wrestling, trying to see who could throw the other into the frigid springtime water. They were a mess of hair and laughter, kicking the ice cold water at one another every chance they had.

Freddie was some ways off, sitting on a chair he had brought, his sketch book in hand, looking at the waves before doodling it down on paper. His tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth, his beach hat rippling in the wind. Brian figured he’d join him.

Where Freddie was, the sand was warmer. When he planted his bottom down, he was greeted by a rush of warm, easing his goosebumps. The sun helped too, melting the ice on his joints, frozen by what seemed like months of disuse. 

“Are you having fun, love?” Freddie asked, looking over at the guitarist. He dropped his pencil, reaching down to stroke Brian’s cheek. It was nice seeing that scraggly beard gone. 

“It’s lovely out here. Wish the water was warm though,” Brian said, his eyes on some gulls that flew near the sun. 

“We’ll come back in the summer, then. We’ll swim and each one of us will get a sun burn. How about that, Bri?” Freddie said with a snort. 

“You joke but I’d really love that. I’ve gone quite pale haven’t I?” Brian said, holding out his ghostly hand. 

Freddie grabbed it, warming it between his two hands. “A little color wouldn’t hurt” he said, smiling big. 

The two of them flinched when the youngest came over to see what was happening. They were soggy, shivering and out of breath.

“Have you boys come to ruin the peace?” Freddie said, wiping off the sand they flung onto him.

“Always,” Roger said, grinning cheekily. He plopped himself down by Brian. John followed suit.

“What were you two hens chattering about?” Roger asked as he rolled down his pant legs.

“Oh nothing, really. It’s just nice here. Too cold for people to come. So quiet and pretty,” Brian said, his gaze now on his friends around him.

“You’re right. It is too cold. Why’d we come here of all places?” John said as he hugged his knees to his chest, regretting all the frolicking in the water.

It wasn’t Brian’s choice to come all the way out here. It was Freddie’s. Perhaps a covert celebration of Brian’s recovery. Although a gathering at his house would’ve been a much warmer event. He couldn’t complain though.

“Maybe if you-” Brian was interrupted by a gigantic splash coming from the water. The 4 of them turned to look for the source.

“Is that…?”

“Dolphins!”

They all ran, laughing and pushing one another, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pod passing through.

They stood on the shore, their feet turning icy with the cold sea, their jaws dropped, eyes wide open, watching as what seemed like half a dozen dolphins swam and played before them. They jumped out of the water with only a wriggle, splashing down, spraying water everywhere. They whistled and chirped, bobbing up and out of the water, clearly having the time of their lives, unaware of the spectators.

“Would you look at that,” Brian mumbled, mesmerized by the rowdy sea animals.

The dolphins clicked and squeaked, continuing their play as they swam by the boys. Freddie was jumping excitedly while Roger mumbled something about his camera. Brian could only look on in awe.

Just before the pod was out of sight, one dolphin grabbed something from below, only to toss it far into the shallow end before swimming off with it’s pod.

“John. 50 pounds for you to find the thing it just tossed,” Roger said with a sneer.

“60.”

“Deal.”

After much screaming about the cold and searching, John found it. 

A shell.

A conical shape with intricate ridges, beautiful shades of pink and orange.

“It was just a bloody shell!” John yelled as he made it back to land, wet and trembling. He gave it to Brian, running off to find a towel. And the money he was owed.

Brian looked at the shell, his finger tips running over the bumpy edges. He pulled the one from his pocket and compared them.

Perhaps at one point, they looked the same. They were the same. But after years or millennia, traveling the bumpiest of currents and roughest of seas, one whittled down to almost nothing. While the other floated on only the softest waves and handled by nimble fins. 

And for some reason, he found that comforting. Despite their lives, they were still gorgeous. Whether unharmed by time or reduced to it’s foundation, these shells were miracles. Fantastic specimens that both deserved a place on his mantle.

One obnoxious in it’s presentation and the other subtle but stunning.

Brian didn’t think he was whole. He might never be again. Always close to crumbling. Close to withering away. He’d been brought down, battered and beaten. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t worth anything. That he too wasn’t beautiful and substantial. There was so much more to him than what was on the surface.

Brian put both shells in his pocket, walking back to the boys who were packing up since John was going blue with how freezing he was.

“Remind me to never bring these two idiots to the beach when it’s cold again,” Freddie said to Brian with a sigh as he put away his drawing pencils. 

“I’ll give you your money later, idiot,” Roger said as he hugged John who wouldn’t stop trembling.

“G-Give it n-now.”

Brian snorted, shaking his head.

It was so good to be back.


End file.
